Sheet-metal end structure for railway-cars.



wk wk R R Patentd Apr. 23,1918.,

INVENTOR ATTORNEY.

W. P. MURPHY. Y @Hammam END STRUCTURE F-oR RAILWAY CARS.'

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4.1912.

WITNESSES.

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.SHIEJETMETL END STRUCTURE FOR, RILWAY-CARS.

Applicationled November 4, 1912. kterial No. 729,239. i

To all whom t may concern l Be it known that I, WALTER P. MURPHY, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,\have invented certain new and use- -ful Improvements in Sheet-Metal End Structures for Railway-Cars, of which the following is a specification. Y t

' My invention relates to t-he construction of railway cars and particularly railway box or house cars; and the invention has for its object to provide an 'improved metal end structurel for railway cars which may be used to ltake the place of the usual wooden end either in a new car or to replace a wornv out or damaged end of an old car.v

and stresses from the cargo of two different sorts, both duetto the inertia of the cargo when the train starts or stops or makes any relatively quick change in speed. That is,

the end is subjected to local thrusts of articles such a`s ipes, rails, and the like, which are heavy, re atively small .1n cross sectlon,

and because of their shape, liable to di'splacement with respect to the bulk of the cargo. These local thrusts are such as to dent or bend a thin metal end. unless the same is properly reinforced. The cargo, in the second place, is apt to slip or be di'splaced vas a whole @and so thrust against the car end when thel train starts or stops. The

' end must beso constructed and so secured to the framing of the car as to withstand shocks of this sort. ln addition tovthe stresses exerted by the shifting of the cargo the end of a railway car is subjected, along with the rest of the superstructure, to cer-` tain diagonal stresses resulting from the tendencyof the car to weave or distort on diagonal lines and to the tendency of the superstructure to swing or rock 'from side` to side on the end frame. The ordinary wooden car end is not well calculated, even when new, to withstand stresses of this sort. Moreover, it is usually the lirst part of the Specification of Letters JPatent. Pmi-,@Mngd Amm, 239 ygyn car which'` is damaged or weakened,.be'cause of the cargo thrusts abovenoted, and when thus damaged and weakened its capacity for resisting the tendencyl of the car to weave or swing from side to side or otherwise become` distorted and racked is still further decreased. I

The present invention provides ametal car end which, although made of. relatively thin sheets of metal, is 4very strong and rigid as Iagainst all of the stresses to which a car is necessarily subjected when in service.. That is, the sheet or sheets constituting the end are formed with ribs so disposed and the structure is so secured to the framing of. the car that it not only serves to withstand the shocks and pressures exerted against it by the cargo but also serves to strengthen and rigidify the superstructureof the car as against weaving andI other 'like strains. v

The invention "is illustrated, in a preferred embod1rnent,. in the accompanying drawing wherein-s l Figure 1 is an end elevation of a railway car constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2, asectional view taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1, and

Fig 3, a sectional Fig. 1.

Like characters of reference designate plan on line 3 3 of like parts in the several figures of the drawing. j. j

Referring to the drawing 10 Vdesignates one of the end sills of a railway car, 11 the corresponding end plate, and' 12 theside girths 4 or belt rails. The end structure consists, in

this embodiment of the invention, of an upper end sheet 13 and a lower end sheet 14. The upper` edge of the upper sheet is v secured to the end plate by Vbolts 15 which also extend through the end fascia 16.-v The I l'ower edge of the lower sheet 14 is formed with the inturned flange 17 secured by bolts 1,8 to the end sill- 10, the flange 17 preferably extendlng under the flooring 19 of the car. rlhe sheet 13 overlaps the sheet 14 and the two are secured together by the rivets 20. Both end sheets are formed with flanges 21 on their vertical edgesV which are secured by means of the bolts 22 to the corner posts 23. As the corner posts of a railway car ordlnarily are not strongly enough secured to the rest of the framing of the car to withstand horizontal stresses, the posts be* ing primarily intended to be load cfarrying members, I preferably providemeans for securing'the side flanges 21 of the end sheets to the 'side girths 12 of the car. To this 'endgusset plates 24 are provided which, as

sheet to the corner diagonally opposite. These ribs strengthen and rigidity the sheets as against the thrusts of the cargo. They transmit any stress received at or near the middle of the sheet tothe corners thereofr.

and consequently to the framing of the car,

that is, to the end sill, end plate and side girths to which the sheets are .directely attached. rlhe diagonal disposition of the ribs 27 also gives the end structure very great capacity to withstand the weaving and other stresses-to which the superstructure of 'i 'the car as a whole is subjected due to causes well known to railroad men. For example,

`they check any tendency that the sheets might have to bend or buckle when the stresses againstfthe car are such as to cause the superstructure of the car to swing from side` to side or sag to one side or the other. Furthermore, these diagonallyC extending ribs withstand the tendency ofthe car to weave. A weaving strain carries one upper corner of the car farther forward than the opposite upper corner and farther forward than the lower corner on the sameV side. This strain can only take place, provided the end structure be rigidly attached to the framing of the car,by bending or buckling the end sheets on diagonal lines, land such bending is peculiarly well resisted by the disposition of the ribs 27.

The end sheets are divided by the diagonal ribs 27 into triangular spaces which are reinforced by suitably formed ribs, the purpose of which is particularly to strengthen the sheets against local thrusts and. pres sures. Preferably the upper and lower triangular spaces 28 are formed with horizontal ribs 29 while. the side spaces 30 are formed. with the vertical ribs 31. The vertical disposition of certain of the rilis increases the load bearing strength of the end l structure. The ribs 29 and 31 also supplement the function of ribs 27 in strengthenmg and rigidifying the end structureas against weaving and other similar stresses.

' I claim: s

1'. The combination with the framing of a box -car comprising side girths, of a sheet metal end structure comprising end sheets secured to said framing at the top and bottom and' to the side girths, formed with diagonally extending ribs and with ribs in the lspaces between said diagonal ribs.

2. The combination with the framing of a box car comprising side girths, of a sheet metal end structure comprising end sheets secured to said framing at the top and bottom and tio the side girths, formed with diagonally extending ribs and with sets of ribs some running horizontally and others vertically in the spaces between said diagonally extending "ribs,

3. The combination with the framing of a box car comprising an end sill, end plate, crner posts and side girths, of a metal end structure consisting of end sheets provided with flanges secured to said end sill, end

plate and corner posts, gusset plates securing said end sheets to the sidegirths, the end sheet each being formed with rib extending from each corner to the corner diagonally opposite thereto so as to divide the sheet into triangular areas, the upper and lower areas being formed with hori- Zontal ribs and the areas at the sides with vertical ribs.

4. The combination with the framing of a railway car comprising frame members extending longitudinally of the car, of a sheet metal end structure comprising an end i sheet formed with diagonal ribs terminating adjacent to said longitudinal frame members'.

5. The combination with the framing of a railway car comprising frame members extending longitudinally of the car, of a sheet metal end structure' comprising an end sheet formed with diagonal ribs terminating adjacelit to said longitudinal frame members, and with ribs in the spaces between saiddiagonal ribs.

6. A car end constructed of sheet metal in 'which is formed a .centrally arranged, horizontally disposed stifening rib or corrugation, and the space above and below said horizontally disposed rib or corrugation being provided with diagonally disposed intersecting stifening ribs or corrugations.

WALTER P. MURPHY.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,263,458, granted April 23, 1918, upon the application of Walter P. Murphy?, ol' Chicago, Illinois, for an improvement in Sheet-Metal End Structures for Railway-Cars, the printed specification requiring correction as follows: lPage 2, line 87 claim 3,

for the Word sheet read sheets, and same page, line, and claim for the Word vrib reed ribs; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these cor rections therein that the seme may conform to the record lof the ease in the Patent Olice.

signed and Sealed thisist day f my, A. D., 1918.

l R.`F. WHITEIHEAD,

[SEAL] Acting Commissioner of Patents.

errors appear in 

